Sanskrit
दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा । आचार्यमुपसङ्गम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत् ॥
dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṃ vyūḍhaṃ duryodhanas tadā ācāryam upasaṅgamya rājā vacanam abravīt
Translation
Sanjaya said: Having seen arrayed the army of the Pândavas, the Prince Duryodhana approached his teacher, and spake these words:
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Sanjaya’s narration begins here, and the report opens not with Arjuna but with Duryodhana, surveying the Pândava army and going to his own teacher, Drona, before the fighting starts. The chapter’s structure is worth tracking: Duryodhana’s own anxious speech runs from here through verse 11, before the narrative returns to the armies at large.
Study deeper
Word by word
- dṛṣṭvāदृष्ट्वा
- having seen
- tuतु
- but
- pāṇḍavānīkaṃपाण्डवानीकं
- the Pāṇḍava army
- vyūḍhaṃव्यूढं
- drawn up in battle formation
- duryodhanasदुर्योधनस्
- Duryodhana
- tadāतदा
- then
- ācāryamआचार्यं
- the teacher — Droṇa
- upasaṅgamyaउपसङ्गंय
- having approached
- rājāराजा
- the prince
- vacanamवचनं
- these words
- abravītअब्रवीत्
- spoke
Commentary
Site Commentary
The Gita’s dramatic opening doesn’t actually belong to Arjuna — it belongs to Duryodhana, whose anxious accounting of forces frames everything for eleven verses before Arjuna even appears. Whoever is most unsettled in a room often speaks first and longest, and that can quietly set the room’s tone well before the person who will actually matter most gets a word in.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Notice when your mood is being set by whoever spoke first and most anxiously in a conversation, rather than by the actual situation — the loudest early voice isn't automatically the truest read.
Professional
- When a meeting opens with one anxious stakeholder's framing, don't let it become the default narrative for the whole discussion — deliberately reset to the facts before the room settles into someone else's nerves.
Family & Social
- At a family gathering, notice when one anxious person's opening comment sets the emotional tone for everyone else — you can choose not to inherit it.
Ask yourself
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